The Internet has become a widely used tool for accessing information contained in databases or other data storage medium. Intranets or private networks are also widely used by companies to provide secure access to information by the company's employees and under some circumstances, customers or other authorized individuals may be given secure access to selected information or databases that are maintained or provided by the company. There are various technologies and software applications available to access databases over the Internet, intranets or the like. Such applications are typically a conglomeration of complex data structures and routines that make them difficult to maintain and enhance as technological advances are made. These applications are also typically “one size fits all” and are not configurable on a per user, per user group or per system basis. This prevents any form of user customization and dynamic control. Additionally, the methods of data access in such applications can be fixed and cannot be changed. This prevents any control over the data access methods and the ability to expand and enhance performance by using data query optimization. The applications may also be required to operate on proprietary server designs and may therefore be limited to specific hardware and software operating system environments. Because of inherent limitations to certain server designs, applications may not be scalable to a large number of concurrent users per server. One application for accessing financial transaction information, referred to as MTQ by the Bank of America Corporation, is subject to the foregoing problems.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a system and method to acquire information from a database that is easily maintainable and can be enhanced to meet technological advances and changes in database structures. There is also a need to provide a system and method to acquire information from a database that is configurable and permits control over the data access methods. There is a further need to provide a system and method to acquire information from a database that is not limited to specific hardware and operating systems and is scalable for any number of concurrent users.